Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[TA Interfx]

Question about old company logo from the 1920's...  The logo is for a compay that was sold multiple times since the 1920's...

I want to use the company logo from the 1920's on a mousepad for a "collector" site that I run...

Few questions:
- Is this copyrighted?
- Do graphics, logos trademarks expire?  (the logo has not been used in the past 40+ years)

Thanks for any advice.

TA

[JSonnabend]

Logos are subject to copyright protection, but the copyright on the logo in question, to the extent it was ever in force, has likely expired.

Trademarks, unlike copyrights, do not expire, but can be abandoned through non-use coupled with a lack of intent to resume use.  Certainly 40+ years of non-use would strongly suggest abandonment (even raise a legal presumption).

As always, the best advice you can receive here (and the only free advice worth more than you paid) is to speak directly to a lawyer before embarking on your proposed course of action.

- Jeff